Fender Rumble Club

[yang-yang-java]

I have a 500C, do I need to clean the fan? I bought it second hand. The guy I got it from says he barely used it but I'm not blind. It's even missing one corner protector and the Fender logo has a falling F.

Anyway, should I open it up and clean the fan? Or have any of you did it? I don't want to do it of course if it doesn't matter. TIA!!

 

[G-Dog]

I have a 500C, do I need to clean the fan? I bought it second hand. The guy I got it from says he barely used it but I'm not blind. It's even missing one corner protector and the Fender logo has a falling F.

Anyway, should I open it up and clean the fan? Or have any of you did it? I don't want to do it of course if it doesn't matter. TIA!!

No, you shouldn't need to open it up for anything. Vacuum outside the vents if they look dusty, but that should be all it needs. Is the fan making noise? Most Rumblers don't even know their Rumbles have fans!

And don't shoot deoxit around the knobs, or anywhere else, to clean things!! According to a venerable Elder Equine tech here on TB, that stuff does more harm than good.

 

[yang-yang-java]

No, you shouldn't need to open it up for anything. Vacuum outside the vents if they look dusty, but that should be all it needs. Is the fan making noise? Most Rumblers don't even know their Rumbles have fans!

And don't shoot deoxit around the knobs, or anywhere else, to clean things!! According to a venerable Elder Equine tech here on TB, that stuff does more harm than good.

Gotcha. Thank you so much! Glad I asked.

 

[John D Harris]

I have a 500C, do I need to clean the fan? I bought it second hand. The guy I got it from says he barely used it but I'm not blind. It's even missing one corner protector and the Fender logo has a falling F.

Anyway, should I open it up and clean the fan? Or have any of you did it? I don't want to do it of course if it doesn't matter. TIA!!

I don't know of anyone who is a fan of fan cleaning!

 

[toughluck]

Don't open the amp to clean the fan, but removing dust is absolutely necessary!

As @G-Dog said, vacuum outside the vents. I would also advise using compressed air or an electric blower.

My procedure is this: When vacuuming around the fan, put the vacuum on low against the fan vent and cause it to spin. It will shake some dust from the fan blades. You can put the vacuum nozzle against one side of the fan and blow air against the other side. Make sure to not cause the fan to spin too fast.
Next, lock the fan. Use a piece of wire to catch a fan blade and wrap it once against the vent grill. Rotate the device so that the fan vent is pointing down. Put the nozzle against every opening and blow air inside to loosen up the dust. Then put a vacuum cleaner the fan vent and blow some more air inside so that the dust is sucked up.
The device won't be factory-new-pristine, but it will be very reasonably clean without much effort.

 

[mapleglo]

From my band's gig yesterday afternoon. I brought the Rumble 500 and extension cabinet. The amp rocked!

 

[henryjurstin13]

View attachment 7351311

View attachment 7351312

From my band's gig yesterday afternoon. I brought the Rumble 500 and extension cabinet. The amp rocked!

What kind of cabinets/risers are you using?

 

[mapleglo]

What kind of cabinets/risers are you using?

I made them from 3/4" plywood, and painted with Duratex.

 

[henryjurstin13]

I made them from 3/4" plywood, and painted with Duratex.

Very cool.... share some pics of the build/details if'n ya can.

 

[GonePlaid]

Don't open the amp to clean the fan, but removing dust is absolutely necessary!

As @G-Dog said, vacuum outside the vents. I would also advise using compressed air or an electric blower.

My procedure is this: When vacuuming around the fan, put the vacuum on low against the fan vent and cause it to spin. It will shake some dust from the fan blades. You can put the vacuum nozzle against one side of the fan and blow air against the other side. Make sure to not cause the fan to spin too fast.
Next, lock the fan. Use a piece of wire to catch a fan blade and wrap it once against the vent grill. Rotate the device so that the fan vent is pointing down. Put the nozzle against every opening and blow air inside to loosen up the dust. Then put a vacuum cleaner the fan vent and blow some more air inside so that the dust is sucked up.
The device won't be factory-new-pristine, but it will be very reasonably clean without much effort.

And buy a cover.

 

[mapleglo]

Very cool.... share some pics of the build/details if'n ya can.

Unlike previous builds I've done, I didn't do a detailed thread or take a lot a pictures, but I did take a few.

Here's some cuts I made with the table saw:

Here's some progress I made during assembly:

Here's a pic after I pulled out the screws and replaced them with dowels, and after I did the roundover with the router:

And here it is completed after paint and after I applied the band logo:

I made the dolly at the same time.

 

[Gary123]

how do i become a member of the rumble club?

 

[G-Dog]

how do i become a member of the rumble club?

Just tell us about your Rumble.

 

[Gary123]

i have a Fender rumble 100 the model with the 2 x10 combo black felt dressed lovethe amp

 

[G-Dog]

i have a Fender rumble 100 the model with the 2 x10 combo black felt dressed lovethe amp View attachment 7355177

Woo hoo! @Gary123, you are now member #1879 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Please put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

That's a very cool V1 Rumble made between 2003 and 2010! Do the red pulsing lights in the port still work? I think that's SO cool!!

How about telling us a bit more about yourself, Gar, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!​

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Woo hoo! @Gary123, you are now member #1879 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Please put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

That's a very cool V1 Rumble made between 2003 and 2010! Do the red pulsing lights in the port still work? I think that's SO cool!!

How about telling us a bit more about yourself, Gar, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!​

G-Dog, have you recorded a Zep rewrite "Rumble On" yet? The ABB's "Rumblin Man"?

 

[G-Dog]

G-Dog, have you recorded a Zep rewrite "Rumble On" yet? The ABB's "Rumblin Man"?

Unfortunately, my recording "studio" was usurped by my wife's sewing/embroidery/quilting fallout long ago. Plus, she cooks lunch for our two nearest (working) grandsons every weekday, one of which has installed his own desktop PC in my music room so he can get some "quality screen time" on his lunch hour!

I'll gladly consider your submissions, or others'.

Meanwhile, here's the closest I can get, ATM (sigh):

​

 

[Gary123]

Woo hoo! @Gary123, you are now member #1879 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Please put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

That's a very cool V1 Rumble made between 2003 and 2010! Do the red pulsing lights in the port still work? I think that's SO cool!!

How about telling us a bit more about yourself, Gar, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!​

yes the pulsing red lights still work and yes they are pretty cool. Little about myself well im 52 years young. Started playing bass when i was 15 took lessons for a couple of years was in a few high school bands heavy metal and rock style. then as years went on i had a family and full time job played only as a hobby for years off and on. last 10 years i started back at playing more and more about 3 years ago i had a couple basses and a small barely get by amp then when i started my now job at my church as the maintenance guy i seen they had a bass and an amp the fender rumble. i say what are you doing with them pastor says we are gunna just get rid of them i said well im interested in both then he says great take em both i said you want any money for them he says nope they are yours and the rest is history the amp was and still is in like new condition. The bass i did a complete re do of fixed some issues with it put new hardware and paint to it and its in my now lineup of three i have a Squire jazz affinity metallic blue Hartke w-4 gloss black with red metallic dusted threw it and a Hammer slammer music man style metallic blue same as the squire with matching pickguards of their own factory style. i have several hours of all kinds of songs and music style i play on the regular now you tube tabs and bass covers help allot with that and im eager to always learn new songs ide say my playing is the best for me as it ever was hands down and only getting better with age at this point . thanks for having me hope to learn anything i can and possibly add and share some things along the line.

 

[toughluck]

Sooo... I tried my Rumble 40 Studio and my Rumble 1×15 cab with a 100 W head and see how low they go before they bottom out and no longer play the fundamental. I used Szynalski's Online Tone Generator to play a pure sine wave through the speakers.
And here's what I found.

The Studio plays A1 (55 Hz), but it struggles a bit. It can almost play E1 (~41 Hz) at a significantly increased volume but it doesn't make any sense to do it live.

The 15" cab can play A1 effortlessly, but the ports are tuned somewhere between E1 and A1, so at E1, there's port chugging, which obviously gets worse at B0 (~31 Hz). Now, if you plug the ports, it plays E1 effortlessly and you can hear B0 with some distortion.

I figure with 30 Hz port tuning, it could play B0 perfectly, but I didn't do calculations for cab volume whether it will still be large enough after making the ports longer.

Bummer.

So here's what I'm wondering: Does the 2×10" cab have lower frequency response than the 1×15"? Which Rumble goes the lowest? Does any of them actually play B0 at a reasonable level in the mix? It almost feels like chasing the ultimate LF extension of those cabs makes no sense if a small 10" dedicated subwoofer in my home setup easily plays back 40 Hz and with EQ, it handles down to 35 Hz.

Alternatively, I could play back with the ports plugged, but then there's loss of ventilation and the speaker is no longer as effectively cooled which may be a problem at 100 watts.

Any advice?

 

[G-Dog]

Sooo... I tried my Rumble 40 Studio and my Rumble 1×15 cab with a 100 W head and see how low they go before they bottom out and no longer play the fundamental. I used Szynalski's Online Tone Generator to play a pure sine wave through the speakers.
And here's what I found.

The Studio plays A1 (55 Hz), but it struggles a bit. It can almost play E1 (~41 Hz) at a significantly increased volume but it doesn't make any sense to do it live.

The 15" cab can play A1 effortlessly, but the ports are tuned somewhere between E1 and A1, so at E1, there's port chugging, which obviously gets worse at B0 (~31 Hz). Now, if you plug the ports, it plays E1 effortlessly and you can hear B0 with some distortion.

I figure with 30 Hz port tuning, it could play B0 perfectly, but I didn't do calculations for cab volume whether it will still be large enough after making the ports longer.

Bummer.

So here's what I'm wondering: Does the 2×10" cab have lower frequency response than the 1×15"? Which Rumble goes the lowest? Does any of them actually play B0 at a reasonable level in the mix? It almost feels like chasing the ultimate LF extension of those cabs makes no sense if a small 10" dedicated subwoofer in my home setup easily plays back 40 Hz and with EQ, it handles down to 35 Hz.

Alternatively, I could play back with the ports plugged, but then there's loss of ventilation and the speaker is no longer as effectively cooled which may be a problem at 100 watts.

Any advice?

??? Are you having a problem hearing low frequencies from your Rumble Studio 40? Mine seems to do quite well with the low notes on my BEAD-tuned basses, without reinforcement, even at acoustic gig volumes.

Perhaps this thread will help you some.. I found The Elder Equine's first post there, of many, very helpful to me, personally. In fact, he had me at "I have designed custom cabinets (cabinet systems) that will in fact capture the low B at better than -3dB for some touring players who wanted to go to that place, the were fairly large, they were fairly expensive and in the end the low frequency extension wasn't as musical as the concept suggested. ... I found that the bass signal fit into the mix better, with more tonal definition when high-passed around 40-45Hz." That's when I stopped worrying about the very low fundamentals. I just go with my ears and it sounds good to me.

But, maybe that's just me.